WTF (Westbrook Elite #4)

I don't know how I went from saying I didn't want any more angst to the stormy seas of this series (pun intended--they're swimmers? get it? no? okay...). Also, I'm full-on aware that I skipped the first two books in the series. I'm not playing around right now, and my heart needed all of the gay. ANYway, this is Cambria Herbert's Westbrook Elite series. The fourth book (my first--m/m is superior (yes, I said it)) is titled "WTF."

["I don’t do commitment. And though I swing both ways, I don’t do men either.

It’s too messy, too stressful, and just asking for trouble.
I’d rather shine bright like the sun than drown in the rain, so I adopt a pounce-and-bounce lifestyle for which my sparkling charm keeps me from being hated.
When I show up in Sweden for a semester abroad, I expect a roomie. What I don’t expect is Lars. The storm to my sun. The test of my patience. How easy he makes it to forget all my reasons for staying away from guys.
No big deal. I’ll just pivot from pounce and bounce to roomies with benefits. I’ll get to indulge in that side of me, then leave it half a world away. What happens in Sweden stays in Sweden… until he follows me home.
Lars shows up at Westbrook looking like my little brother’s new swim bro. Just as alluring as he did before.
And all I can do is ask myself,
My resolve for an uncomplicated, stress-free life isn’t something I’m willing to give up for anyone, even if his icy-blond hair begs for my fingers and those pale-blue eyes are haunted by shadows.
I might be the sun, but I am not his sun, and it’s not my job to chase away whatever sent him running here. He swears it isn’t me. But I’m calling bullshit. Why else would he show up on my turf?
But then shit starts happening, and the shadows in his eyes turn to panic. I catch a glimpse of the bruises on his creamy, flawless skin.
I can’t keep him at arm’s length anymore. I don’t want to. Protecting him means surrendering to everything I always refused. His destruction or mine.
The choice is simple, so achingly absolute that I can’t help but wonder once more…
WTF?"]

I really didn't think that anything could top the previous book ("Wish"), but hot damn, I was so wrong. This is somehow now one of my very favorite books. It was so sweet and angsty and fluffy and dramatic and D: !! I can't!

I probably would have sobbed for most of this book if I was actually breathing while reading. It was so damn good! There was so much personal punishment and dark thoughts and self-sacrificing and heartache. But the scenes with love and possession (the nontoxic kind) and dedication and pureness were worth all of the second-hand anxiety. I mean, Lars was practically perfect. And Win? Perfect for Lars (and vice versa). I just... Everyone needs to read this book (after reading the below Trigger Warnigns).

Also, I don't agree with the title. Mostly because Win was head-over-heals for Lars the second he saw him at the airport the first time (and the nickname(s)! D: ). End. Me. Now. I think it would have been cute to have a Swedish title, tie that in (thought idk how many Swedish words with a W could have made sense).

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, domestic abuse, violence, assault, stalking, hospital stays, manuplication, blackmail, and more

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